美国国税局即将与移民与海关执法局达成协议，分享疑似无证移民的地址
【中美创新时报2025 年 3 月 24 日编译讯】（记者温友平编译）据四位知情人士透露，美国国税局即将达成一项协议，允许移民官员使用税务数据来确认涉嫌非法入境人员的姓名和地址，这是数周谈判的结果，谈判旨在利用税收系统支持特朗普总统的大规模驱逐运动。《华盛顿邮报》记者Jacob Bogage 和 Jeff Stein 对此作了下述报道。
根据该协议，移民和海关执法局可以向美国国税局提交疑似无证移民的姓名和地址，以便与机密纳税人数据库进行交叉引用，这些知情人士表示，由于担心遭到职业报复，他们不愿透露姓名。
通常情况下，个人税务信息，甚至个人姓名和地址，在国税局内都被视为机密并受到严密保护。非法披露税务数据将受到民事和刑事处罚。
但是，税务信息可以在某些有限的条件下与其他联邦执法部门共享，并且通常需要获得法院的批准。知情人士说，以纳税人隐私法例外为理由与移民执法部门合作，即使不是史无前例，也是不寻常的。
知情人士说，拟议的协议引起了国税局职业官员的警惕，他们担心该安排可能会滥用隐私法中一个狭窄且很少使用的章节，该章节旨在帮助调查人员建立刑事案件，而不是执行刑事处罚。
根据《华盛顿邮报》获得的协议草案的部分内容，ICE 对税务数据的访问将仅限于确认最终驱逐令的移民的地址。备忘录称，请求只能由国土安全部部长克里斯蒂·诺姆 (Kristi L. Noem) 或移民与海关执法局代理局长托德·莱昂斯 (Todd Lyons) 提交，并且必须包括每个纳税人的姓名和地址、驱逐令的日期以及其他允许国税局核实纳税人身份的身份信息。该协议将授权对违反移民法而“受到刑事调查”的人进行数据验证。
财政部和国土安全部的代表分别是国税局和移民与海关执法局的上级机构，他们没有立即回应置评请求。
如果获得批准，该协议将代表联邦机构管理纳税人信息和移民执法方式的重大转变。多年来，国税局一直向无证工人保证，他们的税务信息是保密的，他们可以安全地提交所得税申报表而不必担心被驱逐出境。研究人员称，该国约 1100 万无证移民中，约有一半，甚至可能更多，提交所得税申报表来记录他们向美国政府支付的费用。
“这是政府 30 年来要求移民报税的彻底背叛，”一位前国税局官员表示，由于害怕遭到报复，他要求匿名。
在特朗普敦促其政府利用一切资源进行他希望的美国历史上最大规模移民驱逐行动之际，政府开始采取信息共享的举措。
数周来，移民执法官员一直试图大幅增加逮捕人数，目标是每天至少逮捕 1,200 至 1,500 人，并采取了一系列激进和非常规策略。其中包括：招募通常不参与移民执法的机构的帮助，援引已有数百年历史的《外国敌人法》将委内瑞拉移民送往萨尔瓦多的监狱，并扩大政府在没有法庭听证的情况下驱逐移民的权力。
尽管特朗普和他的高级助手发誓要重点关注非法入境或被判犯有暴力罪行的移民，但最近的执法行动已使数千名获准入境的移民和移民陷入困境。
与此同时，国土安全部周五取消了三个内部监督机构，这些机构为移民发声，并调查有关拘留条件、移民儿童照料以及绿卡或公民身份申请延迟的投诉。国土安全部官员表示，这些机构制造了官僚障碍，阻碍了该机构的工作。
与美国国税局的潜在协议可能标志着移民官员首次向税务系统寻求大规模执法援助。无证工人的工资与其他美国居民一样，要遵守相同的税收预扣和报告要求。许多移民提交纳税申报表并保存下来，希望纳税记录有朝一日能帮助他们申请合法居留权。1986 年《移民改革与控制法案》规定，已补缴税款的无证移民将获得永久合法身份，并满足其他要求。
美国国税局在其网站上表示，无证移民“尽管身份非法，但仍需缴纳美国税款”。由于大多数人没有资格获得社会安全号码，因此美国国税局允许他们使用个人纳税人号码（ITIN）进行申报。
如果获得批准，与 ICE 共享纳税人信息的协议将标志着与几周前相比的急剧逆转。上个月，国税局领导层拒绝了国土安全部要求提供特朗普政府怀疑非法入境的 70 万人的姓名、地址、电话号码和电子邮件地址的请求。
当时的代理国税局局长道格·奥唐纳 (Doug O’Donnell) 和机构律师得出结论，这两项请求都是非法的。奥唐纳在税务机构工作了 38 年后于第二天退休。据《华盛顿邮报》报道，他的继任者梅兰妮·克劳斯 (Melanie Krause) 很快表示有兴趣与国土安全部官员合作。
两周后，特朗普政府还更换了国税局的首席律师，后者曾表示反对跨机构共享纳税人数据的尝试，包括埃隆·马斯克的美国 DOGE 服务。
三位知情人士说，克劳斯和美国国税局新任代理首席法律顾问安德鲁·德梅洛此后多次与财政部和国土安全部的官员会面，以达成协议。
题图：1 月，在移民与海关执法局牵头的逮捕非法移民的行动中，执法人员在布朗克斯陪同一名被拘留者。Matt McClain/华盛顿邮报
附原英文报道：
IRS nears deal with ICE to share addresses of suspected undocumented immigrants
By Jacob Bogage and Jeff Stein The Washington Post,Updated March 23, 2025
Members of law enforcement walked with a detained person in the Bronx during ICE-led operations to apprehend illegal immigrants in January. Matt McClain/The Washington Post
The Internal Revenue Service is nearing an agreement to allow immigration officials to use tax data to confirm the names and addresses of people suspected of being in the country illegally, according to four people familiar with the matter, culminating weeks of negotiations over using the tax system to support President Trump’s mass deportation campaign.
Under the agreement, Immigration and Customs Enforcement could submit names and addresses of suspected undocumented immigrants to the IRS to cross-reference with confidential taxpayer databases, said the people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity out of fear of professional reprisals.
Normally, personal tax information, even an individual’s name and address, is considered confidential and closely guarded within the IRS. Unlawfully disclosing tax data carries civil and criminal penalties.
However, tax information may be shared with other federal law enforcement under certain, limited conditions, and typically with approval from a court. It would be unusual, if not unprecedented, for taxpayer privacy law exceptions to be used to justify cooperation with immigration enforcement, the people said.
The proposed agreement has alarmed career officials at the IRS, the people said, who worry that the arrangement risks abusing a narrow and seldom-used section of privacy law that’s meant to help investigators build criminal cases, not enforce criminal penalties.
According to portions of a draft of the agreement obtained by The Washington Post, ICE access to tax data would be limited to confirming the addresses of immigrants with final removal orders. Requests could be submitted only by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi L. Noem or acting ICE director Todd Lyons, the memo says, and must include the name and address of each taxpayer, the date of their order for removal, and other identifying information that would allow the IRS to verify the taxpayer’s identity. The agreement would authorize data verification for people “subject to criminal investigation” for violating immigration law.
Representatives for the Treasury Department and DHS, the parent agencies of the IRS and ICE, respectively, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
If approved, the agreement would represent a significant shift in how federal agencies manage both taxpayer information and immigration enforcement. The IRS has for years reassured undocumented workers that their tax information is confidential and that it is safe for them to file income tax returns without fear of being deported. About half, possibly more, of the roughly 11 million undocumented immigrants in the country file income tax returns to document their payments to the US government, according to researchers.
“It is a complete betrayal of 30 years of the government telling immigrants to file their taxes,” one former IRS official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity out of fear of retribution.
The move toward information-sharing comes as Trump pushes his administration to use every resource to conduct what he hopes will be the largest mass deportation of immigrants in US history.
For weeks, immigration enforcement officials have tried to dramatically ramp up arrests, aiming for at least 1,200 to 1,500 per day, using a series of aggressive and unconventional tactics. Among them: recruiting the help of agencies not usually involved with immigration enforcement, invoking the centuries-old Alien Enemies Act to send Venezuelan migrants to a prison in El Salvador, and expanding the government’s power to expel migrants without a court hearing.
While Trump and his top aides vowed to focus on immigrants in the country illegally or convicted of committing a violent crime, recent enforcement actions have ensnared thousands of migrants and immigrants who have authorization to be in the country.
Meanwhile, DHS on Friday eliminated three internal watchdog agencies that advocated for immigrants and investigated complaints about detention conditions, the care of migrant children, and delays in processing applications for green cards or citizenship. DHS officials said the offices created bureaucratic hurdles that obstructed the agency’s work.
The potential agreement with the IRS would probably mark the first time immigration officials have turned to the tax system for large-scale enforcement assistance. Undocumented workers’ wages are subject to the same tax withholding and reporting requirements that apply to other US residents. Many immigrants file tax returns and save them in hopes that a record of paying taxes will one day help them make a case to apply for legal residency. The 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act granted permanent legal status to undocumented migrants who had paid back taxes, among other requirements.
On its website, the IRS says undocumented immigrants “are subject to U.S. taxes in spite of their illegal status.” Because most are ineligible for Social Security numbers, the IRS allows them instead to file with individual taxpayer numbers, known as ITINs.
If approved, the agreement to share taxpayer information with ICE would mark a sharp reversal from just a few weeks ago. Last month, IRS leadership rejected a DHS request for the names, addresses, phone numbers, and email addresses of 700,000 people the Trump administration suspected of being in the country illegally.
The acting IRS commissioner at the time, Doug O’Donnell, and agency attorneys concluded both requests were unlawful. O’Donnell retired the next day, after 38 years at the tax agency. His successor, Melanie Krause, quickly signaled an interest in collaborating with Homeland Security officials, The Post has reported.
Two weeks later, the Trump administration also replaced the IRS’s top attorney, who had voiced opposition to attempts to share taxpayer data across agencies, including by Elon Musk’s US DOGE Service.
Krause and the IRS’s new acting chief counsel, Andrew De Mello, have since met multiple times with Treasury and DHS officials to hash out an agreement, three of the people said.
